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Skills for CV: Time management

It’s safe to say that there is not enough time in the day. Ever find yourself at university wondering how people in your class had the time to complete all the essential reading, have their assignments done within good time without having 7 minor breakdowns and have time for a social life? No, they weren’t superhumans. They just had really good time management skills. I know, right? What a jerk.

However, having really good time management skills isn’t just for making 99 lectures on a Monday morning. It’s a skill you need for life. So how do you go about achieving really good time management in your everyday life without having 7 minor breakdowns and repeating the phrase “I can’t even” every 5 minutes? Simple. Well, not simple… But easy enough. Good time management requires an important shift in focus from activities to results. So, being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being effective. In fact, that’s a sign of inefficiency. So time to correct that.

What is time management?

Simply put, time management is the art of being on time with your to-dos. This includes everything from delivering things before your deadlines, to being on time for work and meetings, etc. So, how is this achieved? BY MANAGING YOUR TIME! Work is not easy. It is hard because employees make things difficult for themselves most of the time, with poor time management skills. Time management is achieved in the workplace when you create and stick to a schedule that works for you.

In careers around hospitality or customer centered work, time management is crucial for meeting the customers’ needs promptly. In any industry, good time management skills require a good sense of work gauge so that you can correctly allow the time needed for a task. But before you get the colored pens and paper out, time management is about much more than scheduling. It also requires discipline, quick thinking and knowing when to delegate tasks. Even for how you deal with procrastination, distractions and unplanned events.

Why is it important?

If you are at a job but haven’t actually perfected your time management, you will often find that you are fallen behind on projects and tasks expected of you. This not only impacts you – but also your colleagues, and no one likes being unable to do their job because someone else isn’t properly organized.

Other than being that person no one likes in the office, no offense… Proper time management takes pressure off you and ensures that you don’t end up doing most of your work at the last minute. This can lead to a lesser-quality end product. Even when you know you could’ve done better.

Different types of time management skills

Any person with great time management skills can adapt to new problems and readjust when needed to complete all tasks and projects. Having the ability to plan, schedule, strategies, delegate and adapt are the traits of a dependable employee and amazingly, this is what employers are looking for!

So, how do you actually present this on a CV? Here are some of the best organizational skills example buzzwords and terms related to time management that employers are looking for:

Creating and keeping to deadlines

Goal setting and meeting goals

Making schedules

Implementing a strategy

Multitasking

Developing your time management skills

Developing your time management skills can be quite difficult to maintain. However, it is not a difficult skill to pick up. So, to ensure that you are improving upon your time management within the workplace, observe your actions for a few days at a time. Observe to see how long your tasks take to usually finish. In addition, understanding which tasks you should prioritize over others. Once you have answered these questions yourself, you can set up a schedule for yourself and as long as you stick to your schedule, you’ll never miss another deadline again and you’ll become the envy of the office.